All posts by Axonn Echysttas

Mentatul.
Analysis, Psychology

22 x 22 for PTSD

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22 days ago, I embarked on a challenge to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder. The challenge is one of those things that sometimes flare up through social media. It’s easy to generalize such happenings and to dismiss them as nothing but annoying fads. Luckily, not everybody is prone to generalization. I decided to undertake this challenge not only because PTSD is a mental condition that is familiar to me, but also because a good friend inspired me (he posted a video every time after doing his 22 daily pushups).

For the past 22 days, aside from the 22 pushups that are the subject of the challenge, I also did daily reading about PTSD. During this process, I compiled a rather long list of notes and now, I’ll use that list to bring forth my own effort for raising awareness about PTSD.

Some PTSD history

There is a lot of information about PTSD out there, so I’m not going to repeat it. Instead, I’ll highlight what I consider to be of greater importance. Throughout the years, I’ve learned a bit about PTSD from various online sources. Now, I built upon that knowledge by reading the Wikipedia entry about PTSD^ as well as several other online sources.

In my understanding, PTSD is just a name for a condition that has been around for ages. That condition is an excessive behavioral adaptation of the brain in an attempt to make sure that a traumatic event does not occur ever again (emphasis intended). Seen in this light, PTSD shows itself as a natural protection mechanism. The problem is with shutting down this system when it’s no longer necessary.

PTSD research and treatment really took off after the Vietnam War. There was some study in this area during the World Wars but this particular name (post-traumatic stress disorder) became official in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM IV).

It is more common in women. Childhood trauma increases the chances of a person developing PTSD during subsequent traumatic events in adulthood. It has a serious impact on the physical health of people who suffer from it (for example it worsens outcome in chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes).

Therapy over medication

One of the main take-aways from all of the reading I’ve done is that therapy is a better solution than medication. Not only does it offer better results (statistically speaking), but it also spares the human body from going through the nasty side effects that are caused by most drugs that are popular today. These drugs are messing around with neurotransmitters, often causing havoc in other areas of the organism.

Traumatic events trigger PTSD due to an over-reactive adrenaline response that creates deep neurological patterns in the brain. The generation of painful memories will make an individual hyper-responsive to future situations that share some similarities with the original traumatic event. Because information is tightly intertwined in our memory, a lot of unexpected situations can trigger flashbacks and other symptoms of PTSD. In other words, the traumatic event alters the neural pathways in the brain through the use of neurotransmitters. That is why tampering with these neurotransmitters could help in the process of curing PTSD (some form of therapy is probably still necessary).

Even though the trauma (or, in the case of Complex PTSD, repeated traumas over a long period of time) does change the victim’s physiology, this doesn’t mean that engaging in long-term chemical interference in the brain is a good idea. If medication is indeed the last resort, there are other options than getting patients hooked on antidepressants, including proven methods such as short-term treatment with MDMA combined with therapy sessions^.

Medication might still provide benefits but since we know so little about the inner workings of the brain, it’s difficult to decide which patients will be helped and which will be harmed by it (yes, long-term medication can cause lasting side effects). For now, what the studies show is that therapy works best.

The two main types of therapy used to cure PTSD are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Due to a lack of differential studies, it is unclear if the eye-movement component of EMDR is really beneficial, but what is certain is that the therapy aspect of it does help patients. The main difference between CBT and EMDR is that in EMDR the patient usually thinks about the traumatic event rather than talking about it.

Awareness helps cure & prevention

Being aware of what PTSD is and how it manifests itself is imperative for both victims and their friends & families. Knowing that somebody has been through a serious trauma, proper measures can be taken. Early access to therapy has been shown to be of some benefit. Knowledge is empowering.

What is most important however is that those that are close to the victim provide social support, are good listeners, rebuild trust and safety, anticipate and manage triggers (probably sounds easier than it is), deal with volatility and anger (ouch) and take care of themselves (this is very important since helping a person weather the effects of PTSD can be quite taxing).

What could we do if a person hides a traumatic event and suffers quietly? Many of the symptoms of PTSD are easy to spot from the outside: intense distress or irritability, avoidance, bouts of anger, developing a destructive addiction, insomnia, and hyper-vigilance, to name a few. Victims of PTSD should be encouraged to seek professional help, but in a way that does not interfere with their feeling of being in control, which more often than not has been seriously affected by trauma.

The US military has developed certain programs to educate soldiers about PTSD and be able to deal with it on the battlefield. It’s a two-edged sword though, as the same knowledge can prevent a soldier to properly adapt back to life at home. It’s still probably better than the alternative, because veterans suffering from PTSD tend to have serious trouble with social integration^.

An explanation that really stuck with me was the fact that upon return, soldiers may feel that they have little in common with their civilian peers. The daily struggles that concern friends and family seem trivial after having experiencing the horrors of war. I can totally see how war can completely redefine one’s scale of suffering. It does not mean that the soldiers lose empathy, but rather that mundane concerns simply fail to register on their emotional radar.

It’s up to us after all

More often than not, PTSD in humans is caused by humans (natural disasters are one of the few stressors that are not human-related). Be it war, rape, child abuse or social abuse, unfortunately, PTSD is mostly a product of our own society. Therefore, the first line of defense against PTSD is improving our society through education and other means, towards a more peaceful approach regarding our peers and the ecosystem we are part of (respecting and acknowledging our surroundings will lead to less damage from natural disasters).

Sports and physical exercise have also been shown to speed up recovery. Not only does physical stimulate the production of euphoria-generating & pain-releving endorphines^, it also builds self-esteem and increases the feeling of being in control. However, the person suffering the effects of PTSD has to be willing to participate in such activities and that can be difficult while in a hurtful state of mind.

Friends, family and healthcare professionals are the ones that have to encourage the desire to get better within those that suffer from PTSD. The wish to get better is there, what is imperative is that the wish is reinforced from the outside.

Even if some sick parts of our society cause PTSD in our friends and family, the healthy part is fortunately there to clean up the mess. I wish that PTSD will slowly but surely become a very seldom occurrence, just like the savage behaviors that often cause it.

Thank you Markus!

The list of notes I made in the past 22 days is located here: www.mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/22.txt^

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Weekly Song

Kalya Scintilla – Boab

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The trees are throwing a party and we’re invited. This is perhaps what Kalya Scintilla’s version of what the Boab corner of the party would sound like. As usual when it comes to this artist, the listener is treated to a staggering array of rhythms and sounds.

I have to say that at this party, I can hardly contain my body. Even though I am sitting on a chair donning my headphones, I cannot contain the grooves as they keep moving me left and right. It’s good I’m in no rush to type this, because this means I can make all sorts of gestures with my hands as the song keeps digging its way into the tribal parts of my awareness.

Kalya Scintilla is one of what I’d like to call the “titans of psybient”. This song comes straight from an EP the artist launched this year. I’m happy it happened so, because I was actually looking for a good Kalya Scintilla song to feature on the Weekly Song. Now I have two. The other one will probably be featured next year.

You can listen to the song for free, in good quality, on BandCamp, which is one of the best websites when it comes to supporting artists. You can also purchase the song (or the EP) from this same location. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I did purchase Kalya Scintilla’s EP :).

https://kalyascintilla.bandcamp.com/track/boab^

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yGrsTZpe7c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yGrsTZpe7c^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

https://open.spotify.com/track/057USOSey2cIDaCuAKugTM^

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Satire

The NSA Goes Commercial with Data Restoration Service

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During its first participation at the International Big Data Conference, the National Security Agency made a surprise announcement:

“We are in a fortunate position that allows us to uniquely compete with Amazon, Google, DropBox and other major cloud providers. Since we already have all our potential customers’ data, instead of charging for data storage like our competitors, our service will provide files and passwords restoration. Say you lose a beloved picture, or you forget some password. You just log in to the all-new NSA Data Restoration Portal and, for a moderate fee, you can recover any of your digital information”, declared Eddie Rainhouse, product manager for the NSA’s new Monetization Initiative that has been created within the Data Collection Services Division.

The news has already caused quite a stir in the cloud computing community. Private companies complain that they can’t compete with the NSA’s eleven billion dollars budget and glowing public reputation.

The famed American security agency has also purchased struggling hard disk maker Seagate in order to “ensure a steady and healthy increase of available storage capacity in order to accommodate more potential customers”.

So far, members of the NSA’s Data Restoration Beta Program seem very satisfied with the service:

“I accidentally wiped my iPhone. I didn’t even have to get out of the house to fix it. I just connected it to my MacBook and accessed NSA’s Data Restoration portal. Twenty minutes and ten bucks later, everything was back in working order. Even my family videos are there, along with all my applications. They even restored my Candy Crush progress. It’s an amazing service!”, declared Manny Datas of Arizona.

Another user, Lo Safeson was saved by the NSA’s PayBack Plus service: “Somebody hacked my Facebook account. I immediately logged in to the NSA portal and I used the Facebook back door system to reset the password of my account. For three hundred dollars I also got an NSA consultant to delete all stolen private information from the hacker’s computer.”

The NSA ensured us that they have a solid authentication service in place that makes sure that nobody except the user and the authorities can access the user’s data. It’s a custom built three-factor login process that uses classified biometric data.

For those that would like to enter the Data Restoration Beta Program, there is an early-hawk discount available until the end of 2016. For your convenience, the NSA has allowed us to publish a list of currently provided services:

  • Full Data Restoration: restores any or all of your devices to the previous state of your choosing. Backups are updated regularly for any data-capable device. The backups will not count against your data quota, since the NSA has working agreements with most Internet Service Providers and is part of International Intelligence Agencies Coalition for Data Safety.
  • Memories Recovery: using this feature, you can recover deleted e-mails or messages from any popular provider. You can also playback old telephone or Skype conversations, as long as they’ve taken place in the past five years.
  • Password Recovery: as the name implies, you can recover your password, in clear text, for any website you visited in the past decade.
  • PayBack Plus: provides counter-attack measures to be used against hackers involved in identity theft. You can remotely delete stolen information and expose hackers to public authorities.
  • Sneaky Peeky: provides read-only access to your NSA history, allowing you to gauge the possibilities of the service and determine what sort of Data Restoration operation you’d like to go for.
  • NSA MVC (Most Valued Customer) Subscription: also known as the NSA Prime, this subscription requires you to pay a small annual fee. Doing so will award you Data Restoration Priority Golden Elephant, as well as tempting discounts for any current or future NSA customer-centric service.

 

 

 

This text has been published in the “Satire” category for a good reason.
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Weekly Song

Eskmo – We Got More

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But it’s true, isn’t it? We got more than we had before. The way the words are spoken and the way the music frames them is strangely compelling. “As a whole, we got more than we had before. And that’s that”, the song whispers in this listener’s mind.

This is one entertaining ride.  I feel the “addiction” potential in it. It’s a groovy piece with a solid thumping tempo. Topping things up is a wonderfully crazy video. As I was watching it, I realized that the graphical style is familiar to me. The way the animations are combined and the playfulness behind them made me think of a certain artist. I was too busy being entertained by the video to read” the words my subconscious was texting me. And I didn’t need to, because, sure enough, at the end of the video, that exact artist was mentioned. Cyriak^! I erupted into mad laughter as I was thanking the Universe for bringing these artists together and allowing me to bask in the glorious heat caused by the union of their intellects.

YouTube (very nice video, shorter song version):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WaoImXPMtE^

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE0pkMtVwGg^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

https://open.spotify.com/track/6MyvAyuqostquGKkXDIKu9^

For Deezer Users (high quality):

http://www.deezer.com/track/10236314^

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Politics, Recommendations

Putin Says DNC Hacking Was Public Service

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About a month ago, Putin declared that the hacking of the Democratic National Committee was a service done to the American public. Russia maintains that it had no involvement in the breach carried by hackers based there. Putin’s words have sparked my interest though, for two reasons. But first, here’s the article about the statement:

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160902/putin-says-dnc-hacking-was-service-to-public^

First of all, I have to say that indeed, the hacking can be seen as a service to the public. The Americans have a right to know how they are cheated by the Establishment. The information uncovered is probably just scratching the surface, but it’s a start. It’s too bad that many people seem to have lost all initiative to do something about the way the system cheats them. But at least the information is out there.

The second reason why Putin’s statement amused me is: would he say the same thing if somebody would expose deeply sensitive information belonging to the party associated with him, United Russia? I imagine that there’s a fair amount of “funny stuff” to be leaked that would also be in the interest of the (Russian) public. It’s easy to be all righteous when you’re not in the spotlight. To be honest, I believe United Russia’s records contain more dirt than the Democrats’.

Later edit: well isn’t it cute. The USA is a sad panda over what they think is Russia’s meddling in their election. I guess Putin struck a chord. Ouch!

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/obama-administration-accuses-russian-government-of-election-year-hacking-229296^

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Weekly Song

Devin Townsend – Fly

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The saying goes that Devin Townsend once dreamt that he was flying. Then, he decided to write a song that would best represent his dream. This is the result.

It’s one of the most positively charged songs that I know. There is so much peace in this melody that one could calm the Middle East with it. Even so, there’s a lot going on inside these magical four minutes. Across the airy textures the listener is accompanied on their journey by all sorts of guitars and magical electronic fairies that spiral up and up and up. And up there, we’re met by his and her sweet voice. Close your eyes and let your mind soar.

Disclaimer 1: even though I made up the part about Devin’s dream, I did not lie about the feeling of flying. I did dream about flying, like so many others. At least as far as I’m concerned, yes, this song is a beautiful metaphor for the feeling of flying.

Disclaimer 2: regarding the “calming the Middle East” part, I seriously believe in therapy through art. Of course, the mind has to be prepared for it, but there are tools and shortcuts for that too. If only there would be a will… because as the saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ5UAnGLqQI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ5UAnGLqQI^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

http://open.spotify.com/track/1pZUfKZRItZYV8W4f5smIJ^

For Deezer Users (high quality):

http://www.deezer.com/track/108557446^

This Weekly Song entry has been brought from the FaceBook archive of Weekly Song^. This exploration was originally started through a FaceBook page, about 13 months prior to launching Mentatul. Slowly but surely, the entire FaceBook archive will be brought here.

Original post:

It’s time to fly! This song has been at my side through countless precious moments, helping me soar through the infinite landscapes of my mind. Devin Townsend’s usual style is progressive metal, but this gem I’m showing you now would better be categorized as “acoustic ambient”.

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Recommendations, Science

Connection Between Ultrasound, Autism and Genetic Disorders?

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A recent study has found a possible connection between the severity of autism symptoms in children and ultrasound scans during the first trimester of pregnancy. Apparently, the worsening of symptoms occurs only when certain genetic disorders are involved. But here’s the thing: if ultrasound does have an effect, it means that it affects any fetus, regardless if there are symptoms or not. Check out the article:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160901152140.htm^

Today, we believe that the fetus cannot hear ultrasound. Even so, we’re still talking here about a high frequency vibration which is propagated through the cells of the body in order to be picked up by a receiver. But what if during the ear’s development, the frequencies range it can pick up changes? Even without this study, I was always squeamish about subjecting an unborn being to what is, in my view, a breach of environment.

Don’t get me wrong, ultrasound scans have saved and improved many lives, allowing parents and doctors to be prepared for certain complications. What I’m saying is that ultrasound shouldn’t be abused. There are mothers who perform the procedure for more than ten times during a pregnancy. In Sweden, they only recommend a single appointment, but in many other countries, for example in the South-East of Europe, an echography is made at almost every doctor visit.

During this technology revolution that we’re going through, I think it’s essential to remind ourselves that our methods are still quite primitive in many regards. We should second-guess our practices and always strive to infringe as little as possible upon our bodies. Our cells are sensitive to all sorts of stimuli, and the high frequency vibration of ultrasound might not exactly be indicated for a being whose brain is in early development. It is my opinion that we should invest in finding new methods of diagnostic that are even less intrusive.

Later update: here’s an even more comprehensive article about ultrasound pros and cons: http://www.mamanatural.com/baby-ultrasound/^

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Weekly Song

Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2

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How many generations sang, heard or read these words?

“We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey teacher leave them kids alone
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall”

More importantly, how many truly understood the meaning of these words? A lot, I think. But how many of these people ended up with any decisional power and with the attitude to change things for the better? Looking at the state of the educational system in the year 2016, it seems like the system has an even stronger grip on our brains than it had almost four decades ago when these words were written. Beaming from all directions, the informational overload is more efficient than ever in programming young and old minds alike. Perhaps it’s time to implement an Intellectual Diet^?

What about the song itself though? It’s a wonderfully groovy rock song, bursting with diversity, glistening with the masterful composition of space rock titans Pink Floyd. “The Wall” album is a powerful statement against a system designed to format minds and crush bones and bricks alike. For me, it’s impossible to post this song anywhere without an honest declaration of solidarity towards the principles it embodies.

Thank you for having been here, Pink Floyd.

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrxX9TBj2zY^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

https://open.spotify.com/track/21jBRxUvrWXTwBfGnQwyVy^

For Deezer Users (high quality):

http://www.deezer.com/track/13795692^

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Recommendations, Science

CRISPR. Designer Babies on the Way?

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It was bound to happen sooner or later. CRISPR^, the acronym associated with a major breakthrough in genetic engineering has just brought us much closer to being able to perform arbitrary changes in living organisms. This is important because it may bring us closer to finding cures for thousands of diseases, create anti-aging treatments and even change features in our unborn children.

Below, you will find more information along with an easy to understand video about bioengineering and a future the use of CRISPR might create.

http://www.sciencealert.com/this-video-explains-perfectly-why-crispr-really-will-change-humanity-forever

I found the video to be a bit on the wishful thinking side. Some years ago we thought very highly about mapping the human genome but the results were seriously below optimists’ expectations. While CRISPR is definitely a step forward in our knowledge about the building blocks* of life, using this knowledge is much more complex than a video-cartoon would like to illustrate.

I sometimes feel that these videos bank on our wishful thinking. Even worse, they tend to play down the serious ethical concerns resulting from some of the proposed advances (they claim that we already perform pre-selection of fetuses so why not go further? To me, that’s like saying that using a nuclear bomb is fine if we already used a pistol). Will a poor family in Africa afford to genetically improve their children? Also, let’s not forget that our medicine is still quite primitive and life is not actually made of “building blocks”. It’s all much more complex than that.

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Satire

Trump, in. Musk, out. Escaping to Mars

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After months of reading the media coverage about the elections in the USA, the Tesla Motors chief has become seriously depressed. Fortunately, after a meeting with his secret team of advisers, Musk came up with a plan^:

“We realized that there is a fantastic business opportunity here. There are very many Americans who, like me, would prefer to evacuate Earth after the election, regardless of who wins. Therefore, in the coming years, we intend to purchase several mining companies and strip-mine the planet, sending as many people as possible to Mars. For a modest price, of course.”

Around the world, demonstrators gathered in support of the measure. Apparently, the same feeling is felt in many other countries; the feeling that democracy is a fake and that the options on the menu are controlled by the Establishment^.

We’ve reached out to NASA for a comment. We got the following statement out of NASA’s administrator, Charles Bolden:

“We’re really thankful to Elon. Considering that in the following years more and more of our country’s budget will go into buggy fighter airplanes^ and cyber-warfare^, we will probably find ourselves without a job by 2020. We expect that after the elections Elon’s business will… let’s say skyrocket… and he’ll definitely consider hiring us into the sprawling SpaceX empire.”

Not surprisingly, many personalities have already pledged several hundreds of millions of dollars in order to be on the first boat to leave the backward, dying world.

“We’ll bring high quality rap to Mars, we’ll make Mars an artist’s paradise”, said Kanye West, donning a cap with a blinged-out racing car wheel with a picture of Mars in the middle.

Religious personalities won’t be missing either. Here’s what Romanian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Daniel had to say: “We believe that every man, woman and child has the right to spiritual education. Our 21st century educational model is unsurpassed in the entire Europe. Our Sunday School will provide the perfect spiritual nourishment for the home-sick cosmonaut.”

BREAKING UPDATE: soon after publishing this article, we were contacted by Donald Trump’s campaign HQ with the following statement:

Donald would like to thank you for publishing what is undoubtedly a truth of the modern world. This state of fact has upset Mister Trump for a great many years, which is partially the reason for his sometimes erratic behavior. However, Donald would like to promise that shortly after he is being elected, he will formally request that SpaceX is given at least as much budget as NASA.

Also, as a new-found faithful Christian, Donald will take a page from the Bible and send his flesh and blood, his son, lovingly called Donald Trump Junior, as one of the first colonists to Mars. Mister Trump has asked me to forward the following official statement:

“Donald will sacrifice himself to deliver all Martians from sin. He will work tirelessly from his mansion on top of Olympus Mons to best represent Mars in the colony’s relations with me, Emperor of Earth, Trump the First.”
 

This text has been published in the “Satire” category for a good reason.
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